A lot of people think Zelda is an RPG when its an action adventure game. The only Zelda game that was an RPG was Zelda 2: The adventure of Link. Just because its a fantasy game and you go on a quest doesn't make it an RPG. After all missions are the same as quest, we use the word mission instead of quests in games that take place in the modern age.
Mission-a group or committee of persons sent to a foreign country to conduct negotiations, establish relations, provide scientific and technical assistance, or the like.(Modern day quest)
Quest-a search or pursuit made in order to find or obtain something: a quest for uranium mines; a quest for knowledge.(olden time mission)
MW1 can be an RPG because you go on missions to stop people from starting a war. While in Zelda you go on a quest to stop Ganondorf from destroying Hyrule. Both are action games but Zelda is an Action adventure and MW1 is an Action FPS. If you call all adventure game RPGs than Uncharated is an RPG.
In order for a game to be an RPG it need a levels system and you create a team or character to use any way you want to, to use in the game,=(Pokemon is the prime example what makes an RPG). If Zelda was an RPG you would be able to level up and get skill points to make your self stronger. But you only get new weapons to use.
Alone in the Dark developer Pieces Interactive has been hit with layoffs a month after its release, as per the latest information.
That genuinely, genuinely sucks. The reboot has clear flaws, but it really felt like a solid first step for this team to receive *greater* investment.
Venturing into a post-apocalyptic world, Bandai Namco resurrects the forgotten treasure, Sand Land: will it capture the magic of the Manga?
I enjoyed the demo so I'll be picking this up. The gameplay made me think of Metal Max Xeno so it sold me on it.
After the release of the horrid avatar update, Pokémon GO fans are trying to get items refunded. This has led to some getting threats of being banned.
Actually COD online is an RPG. Level up character, guns, get new guns, perks, kill streaks. Wish they would make a RPG Zelda game though, one that still has a big focus on story. Not grinding around for the sake of leveling up.
Zelda has been, since it's inception, categorized as an 'Action-RPG'.
You are a part of an epic story, usually with a certain degree of open-world. You acquire items and grow in power/ability. RPG's, like Zelda games, are also often story-heavy.
The 'action' part of Zelda is a result of real-time combat in contrast to the traditional turn-based RPG mechanic. There is also no leveling or statistics in Zelda games, this lending itself to a more 'action-oriented' RPG.
It's interesting you're challenging the definition of conventional genres. We definitely need that with the growing diversity and genre-hybrid games we've seen in the last 5-7 years.
The Legend of Zelda series was originally an RPG hybrid, much like Mass Effect and Dark Souls are part RPG, part action game. It was meant to require the twitch-based skills of an arcade game (go ahead and try to beat the original LoZ playing it like a turn-based RPG) but the exploration and leveling-up of a computer RPG.
Nowadays, it's mostly just a puzzle collection, but in the past it had the same exploration and freedom that RPGs have.
An RPG is not just categorized and defined by the western culture, keep in mind Bethesda's games, or old Bioware/blizzard games might seem a more pure kind of RPG just because they mimic the book kind of classic RPG better, but you see, Videogames themselves have expanded the definition of the genre.
I'll say it again; Videogames have expanded the definition of the genre,FF is an RPG, PS1's Alundra or Vagrant Story were two very different examples of Action RPGs, etc.
The way I see it, BakedGoods nailed it: The basic premises are an evolving character, a long and complex storyline, a fantastic and flexible context, and NPC's.
I might be wrong, then again, I think your point is debatable.